I Do Not Talk, I Am Just A Blogger.

Category Archives: GoodEar

Sometimes change is good, sometimes it really sucks. Just like Ryan Giggs & the superinjuctions (a possible band pseudonym in future), the case of Phoenix remixes is a standout case, deserving a shocking amount of press coverage and a possible double page spread in OK! Much has been made of the breakthrough Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix with a spate of covers and remixes surfacing on the interweb, flooding HypeM with blog kids chatting endlessly about the French quartet’s porosity for remixes.

I prefer this album cover, an' wot?

May I present to the jury, exhibit A:

A mashup EP between Lil & Phe – this illustrates a GOOD remix. Listen to Officer Lasso – by far the highlight of the lot.

And now something a little less…listenable:

Exhibit B: This Hivemynd character is exactly why mainstream dubstep and drum&bass remain stale genres, only highlighted by occasional pornographic bass wobbles and same-old beats. Not only does this remix suck, it goes regularly out of time with the vocal track.

In other words – please remix, please mashup, but do it creatively & have some god-damn respect for your elders.

Now here’s a mixtape that truly appreciates the artist’s original work:

This Mixtape Is Being Blogified

Cookin’ Soul have done a cracking job creating a retrospect of the great Gil.

Here’s an EP The Weeknd aka Abel Tesfaye released prior to the super-massively-deserved-hype of House of Balloons. We Are The Noise has less finesse production wise and is more conventionally RnB, but still worth a good ol’ listen:

I am genuinely not sure which is better. Lykke Li’s original is a beautiful, tender piece o’ work but Drake’s remix means it can hang apathetically alongside the classmates of ’11, in the shape of The Weeknd & Frank Ocean in serving up dark RnB.

Leading Canada back from cultural obscurity

Despite them being old tracks – I feel it is a discussion of the highest order – move aside western philosophical giants.

Nightmares suck, but are also imaginative goldmines. Last night I woke up in a cold sweat believing the ghost of Tyler, the Creator (Yonkers Incarnation) was feeding me cockroaches. Many words came to mind, EW! being up there near the front aside the usual expletives. This nightmare brought on a lot of creative impetus at 3 in the morning though. So thank you inadvertantly to Tyler for his appearance. If you want creativity-inducing nightmares, here’s your starting point:

(Maybe I’m just weak though)

Sounds (That Won’t Give You ‘Mares):

Like an angry Iron & Wine

Electro marauding Aussie Chet Faker sounds nothing like Chet Baker, but this is not necessarily disappointing. Covering a 90’s anthem is no easy task, but Faker doesn’t do badly with his parmesan-grated vocal version of No Diggity:

An act that seems to bring together meatheads, raa’s, indie kids, critics, Pitchfork and err…Kanye together is bringing out a 2nd LP very very soon. I am of course talking about Bon Iver – hopefully this record can reclaim acoustic music from the clutches of the promiscuous Mumford and his multiple offspring. I can’t even comprehend how they have managed to sound more ephereal:

Reconsider this album: Bohren & Der Club of Gore – Dolores – Beyond the name, this is some of the most chilling yet cathartic music you’ll ever hear:

Sight: I’m wet with anticipation for this: My good friend, Chazz Redhead is recreating the classic Star Wars (4,5,6) in FULL to raise money for the upcoming production of Dog Day Afternoon. Fingers crossed it will be on ustream on the 20th:

THE END OF COMMUNITY SEASON 2 – It was so good I am planning a paintball trilogy viewing with my brother (and anyone else in the local area) complete with tex mex tapas and bowls of tropical skittles arranged by colour and preference.

Smell: Keeping with the cuisine theme, I feel I need to share with you the best hot sauce about by Dunns River. At only 48p you really can’t go wrong. 85 mls of pure scotch bonnet fire – awesome in making an arrabiata. You don’t need to go as far as I do though – I pretty much use it on everything.

GAH. Ah. Ow

Touch: Ing Cloth. I Kid – the inspiration from Tyler has left as quickly as it appeared.

Green with it. Jay Z’s Life & Times blog is incredible – a great diversity of material is posted including some very cool architecture, making the Bonaventure Hotel look pretty bland.

I Would Kill For This Design

The music on the posts are annoyingly on point, you’ve just get to quickly surf countless blogs plagiarizing L&T (mine included!). a case in point is this song that just dropped, showing the L&T looks far and wide for the freshest goods. Here’s Get Better John by Mux Mool aka avid 8bit fanatic Brian Lindgren – sounding like a retro SNES apocalypse march- off 2011’s SKULLTASTE. If you like your electronica akin to a schizophrenic Donkey Kong then this should be right on:

But it’s difficult when Mayer Hawthorne releases a free EP. This 6 track covers offering includes a 500 days of summer-esque version of Mr Blue Sky as well as versions of Chromeo, The Festivals & Shorty’s Portion tunes for the delectable ear. Best news is that Impressions includes arguably the most underrated Isley Brothers song of all time, Work To Do. Give it a whirl, I dares ya:

Blogs can sometimes be a chore, but at a time of ‘intense’ revision they become a saviour, in the non-biblical sense of course. Of course. Maybe they are biblical…The gist is this is gonna be a big post in length and content. This could be my Genesis – I don’t want to peak too soon though.

Sounds: Revision music is vital – you need diversity, something catchy but not quite singable, engaging yet workable. I have found these artists to fulfill my requirements in the past week:

Okay, so this really isn't revision music, but bah.

Tyler, The Creator – possibly the coolest 20-year-old out there – with his 2nd full length LP Goblin dropping only two days ago, the boy is unstoppable at the moment. I’ve been giving his first offering, Bastard, a thorough listen and it certainly has helped mecomprehend the political ramifications of african literature, bravo to you Ty. Actually listen to anything Odd Future have to offer really, but Tyler’s material remains the most coherent, if a little bloody scary at times. What’s more is he directed the video to Yonkers, featuring THAT cockroach (do youtube it, it’s a classy vid). Heres’ a juicy Toro Y Moi remix of French:

I’ve already mentioned Ghostpoet’s Ghost Tapes this week, but they deserve a second shout out – they are bold. Trust me:

For something a little more…Scandinavian, Those Dancing Days recent record Daydreams & Nightmares provides nice background noise to one’s rev-sesh. Fuckarias aside, I Know Where You Live Pt. 2 shows that gurl rock can have balls and remain feminine in the process.

Celebrating all haircuts.

Other recommendations: Pusha T’s Fear of God mixtape has a few enlightening moments, including the risque Touch It with rude-crude-fell-in-love-with-a-pornstar Kanye West; The Moderat Album and if all else fails, Alexisonfire’s Old Crows/Young Cardinals for when learning stuff gets ALL too MUCH. (Please don’t through your notes out the window, you might injure a pigeon or a postgrad).

Sight: This makes me sick to the stomach. Skating in Sicily sounds like a dream right now. Here’s Nike SB’s Texture Tour Vid:

Also a mention must go out to Seve Ballesteros, who died at the mere age of 54 this week, THE man that made golf cool – without playing away from home. Ouch, Tiger.

Epitomy of Legend

Smell: 3rd Year Expectation. Need I say more?

Taste: I would say GnT’s, but then I iplaya’d Two Greedy Italians, featuring the adorable duo that is Antonio Carluccio & Gennaro Contaldo.

True Ladz

What I would do to be greedy and Italian like these two.

Touch: ‘Everything I Touch Turns To Sold’

Finally, Finally, Finally, our Average Joe of the Week takes a Eurovision spin. Jedward narrowly miss out on the top spot, with ATM-pissing-NevermindTheBuzzcocks-Ripped-Raw Blue Member Antony Costa as our star – I must admit I don’t think you can hear his voice of any of their material. Hey Ho, He’s a lad, he’s avin a larf, innit son. I will watch this weekend with joy when Blue place lower than Bosnia-Herzegovina.

4th in the series of Ghostpoet’s moody, minimal & soulful Ghost Tape mixtapes – I’m a little late to this one – it’s a 2010 NYE especiale. It has the feel of late night/wee hours radio programming…pirate radio.

Schoolin'

For anyone who knows me, I can’t get enough of the K7 DJ Kicks Comps and this ghoulish artisan should get an opportunity in future. The Boy Got Some Skill, Y’know.

Unashamedly so. And if The OC was still airing this band would certainly have Cohen jumping up and down in his high tops.

Forget Summer & Marissa

This is a little gem by Young The Giant, the band The Strokes would be if they grew up in Echo Park rather than NYC. Nothing world changing, but Apartment is something nice to pop into your summer playlists.